China Revises 2007 GDP Growth to 13%

China’s statistics bureau said the nation’s economy grew even faster in 2007 than previously estimated, a revision that also made the country the world’s third-largest national economy in U.S. dollar terms, overtaking Germany.

The National Bureau of Statistics Wednesday revised its estimate of the growth in annual gross domestic product, the total value of goods and services produced in an economy, to 13% in 2007, up from its last estimate of 11.9% and an initial estimate of 11.4%.

The bureau is expected to release its initial figures for GDP in 2008 later this month, and the higher comparison base could lead to a faster-than-expected slowdown in growth. “It makes this year’s outlook even more challenging,” said Ben Simpfendorfer, economist at Royal Bank of Scotland.